Student Voices

Catherine Duns - 1st year student

Catherine joined the BACE programme after being away from education for 10 years in the financial sector. It was a big change in career direction for Catherine, who has this to say about her experience of transition:
 

I was expecting to have a lot more class contact time in the university!  I now know students need to be prepared to have a lot of self motivation and good time management skills.

It's also really important to know that there are no real 'answers' in what you study.  Something to keep in mind is that it is ok to disagree with people about things.

The need to keep up with reading, reading and more reading can't be stressed enough!

I could have done with at least a week of induction activities, to get tours of the libraries, find out how to use the email system!  I spent the first month or so getting my bearings and trying to get into the programme.

It's great for meeting new people, having your ideas challenged and taking your learning to a whole new level but you have to be prepared to be confused (as Ian Martin told us we have just reached a higher level of confusion!!).

Amanda Thomson - 1st year student

Amanda joined the programme having done a course in FE.This was her experience of moving from FE to HE:

I expected something a little different to be honest. I almost expected the spoon feeding to remain for most of first year. It is a phenomenal experience to find out the difference between spoon feeding and thinking for yourself. It's amazing to find that you don't always agree with your tutor...and thats ok!

It is a big learning experience to discover how much you're left to your own devices . You are told the direction then left to find your own way there!

Before coming I would have liked to have known how much importance was placed on your own reading!

Even the course readers are not enough - you have to go beyond them.

University is very much about you! You must learn all over again how to think, how to write and how to question things. It is ok to disagree with people, and to ask for clarification so that you understand things.

Be prepared for a pleasant headache after your classes!

Karen Quin - 3rd year student

I came to Moray House three long years ago with not a lot of formal education behind me. I had worked in the community for quite a while, so that experience got me in. I found the first year a total nightmare! I had to learn how to write essays, take in lectures and work out what was being taught to me.
 
And to top all that I had to break the code of cryptic words that I had never come across before and could not find in the dictionery either!
 
I have found my way through the maze, whilst juggling a family, job and studing very, very hard. I would like to have known how different the teaching was compared to what I had experienced at school.
 
I am happy to say everyone has been very supportive of me and that has been a very nice suprise. My third year placement was fantastic and worked out great, and helped me get my name in the big wide world of community work.

Gary Walker - 2nd year student

Gary was a former HNC Working With Communities student. Here's what he has to say:

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first went to university. The one thing I would be sure about though, was that I would be in the 'minority' on the degree course, as there were only 4 males in my HNC class! I did expect the work load and the academic work to be at a higher level to that of FE, but I was also expecting to be in university classes a lot more than we actually were.
 
A big surprise was referencing!!!!! The HNC didn't pay that much attention to this and also the amount of reading and standard of work at degree level is very different. In a way, I had to re-educate myself in terms of the academic work, grammar, referencing etc.
 
During the HNC course, we were given a lot of guidance and, in a way, 'spoon fed' when it came to asssignments. I was quite suprised that although there was guidance from lecturers at university, it felt like you had to either know it or find out things by yourself. For example, 'here's the library - go and explore...'

FE was a good preparation in terms of studying; something that I brought to university and still rely on now. I believe that if I had come straight to university from full-time employment I would have struggled. Through working though, I learned a lot about community work, which made the transition from FE to university easier, as I could relate to elements of the degree course.
 
In my opinion, University differs to FE in many ways. Here are my thoughts:
 
1. You must be self disciplined.
2. A lot more is expected of you in terms of reading.
3. You have to find things out for yourself.
4. No one spoon feeds you for assignments.
5. You will be treated like an adult.
6. University is of a higher professional standard.
7. You need to build good relationships with lecturers.